Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a brief stop Monday at Moffett Field and got a firsthand look at the latest technology NASA is using to help state fire crews battle the hundreds of blazes raging throughout California.

The governor toured NASA/Ames Research Center in Mountain View, where researchers are taking data from a remotely controlled pilotless airplane and delivering real-time infrared images of hot spots and flare-ups to fire commanders on the ground. The drone, named Ikhana, has made two flights across the state in the past two weeks and is scheduled to fly over more active fires today.

Schwarzenegger called the drone “one of the most exciting new weapons in our firefighting arsenal.”

“California’s unprecedented number of fires this early in the season makes it all the more important that we use every tool at our disposal to protect property and save lives,” Schwarzenegger said.

The $6 million aircraft has an onboard sensor that can look through smoke and detect temperatures ranging from one-half degree to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Ikhana sends images through a communications satellite to NASA/Ames, where the imagery is superimposed over Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth maps. The information is relayed to fire commanders on the ground, sometimes in as little as 10 minutes, helping them differentiate between the fire front and hot spots that may be burning outside their perimeters.

The flights are remotely controlled from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.

During his tour at NASA/Ames, the governor saw infrared shots of the Basin fire near Big Sur that the drone took last week. Steve Hipskind, chief of the Earth Sciences Division, told Schwarzenegger that the pictures enabled the fire commanders to see where the fire was moving and where to set up a fire perimeter.

“It’s crucial to use firefighters and equipment wisely,” Schwarzenegger said.

Ikhana’s most recent mission was last Tuesday when it flew for more than nine hours above nearly a dozen fires along a route from the Sierra Nevada, west to the Cub Complex in Tehama County and south to the Gap fire in Santa Barbara County.

NASA was working with the U.S. Forest Service on a demonstration mission for the Ikhana originally planned for later this summer. But NASA moved up the schedule in response to the massive state wildfires.

The Ikhana made its maiden voyage during last summer’s wildfire season and provided real-time data to fire officials in California, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

Mark Gomez has worked for the Mercury News since 1992, including the past ten years as a reporter on the breaking news/public safety team. He is a South Bay native and graduate of San Jose State University.

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